Songstress
by The-Azure-Tourmaline
Summary: Mikan is a planner and a songstress. A magician, whose magic lie within their voice. All her life she had dedicated it to the final moment where she'll be selected into a Academy. Her future depended on it; in order to follow her carefully laid out plans. But when the unexpected happen, her plans fall apart. And for the first time in her life, Mikan has to follow another's song.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

In the world, there existed five types of magic. The first kind was alchemy; where users utilize potions and incantations with sacrifices. The second type was connected with nature and the environment. The third focused on the mind; a more mental based magic. The forth was a common type, where the mage's magic focused on charms and spells. And finally the fifth, a songster, a magic found within the mage's voice. The five types of magic had existed for centuries bestowed upon them by Alice the goddess of witchcraft. All users were typically born into each category, a hereditary thing; it was extremely rare for one to be born into another.

So, ever since she was little Mikan Yukihara knew for a fact that she'll one day become a songstress, just like her parents. She'll perform her first piece of magic when she comes of age and go to a wizard school to hone her magic until she graduates. After that she'll find her pair; her other half. And she'll happily ever after in a castle with her prince. Well, that was her original plan when she was four.

When she was six and had performed her first song. Mikan had planned to attend the school for mages in the next town over with all her friends. And she'll come out on top in every class, just like how she was doing in her elementary prep classes. Then her prince charming would sweep her feet to an enormous mansion with an outdoor pool.

When she was ten years old, Mikan received a wake-up call. The new student Hotaru Imai had bested her. It was then, that she realized that there were better mages out there. She had only been a small fish in a small pond, a dreamer in her tiny hometown. Since then her plans took a different turn. She wanted to beat Imai-san and become an even better songstress then her, the strongest in the world.

When she was twelve years old and had finally gotten over her differences with Hotaru. Mikan planned on attending a good school in the big city with her best friend. She'll work hard to get there and would take up a job to pay for her tuition. She'll live in a dorm for the rest of her school life. Afterwards she'll take up some studies at a college. She wanted to free and completely independent.

When she was finally thirteen and had gotten into a school in a city. She discovered the great Songbird Academy dedicated to only songstresses. She worked even harder then, trying to qualify for the Academy. Day in and day out was dedicated to getting into the said school. Hotaru left her the next year for unknown reasons.

Now she was sixteen moving onto seventeen. Barely remembering what all her past goals and high aspirations used to be. She was back in her small, cozy hometown looking through old photo albums. It was the year to see where all her dreams, even the ones she couldn't remember, had landed her among the bright moon or with the many stars in the sky.

It was also the year when nothing fell in line with her plans.

* * *

Thanks for reading :D This is my first story so reviews on if it is bad or not would be nice. (Don't hold back with criticisms)  
Title and summery may be changed in the future.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice at all.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

The gooey, pale concoction hissed and sizzled when it hit the inferno of heat, howling out in protest as it morphed into a solid state against its will. After what seemed like an eternity of agony it'll transported out its misery. Where it'll await its demise as it listened to the cries of its fellow brothers fell into the same horrible fate.

Not that Mikan cared; she was way too hungry and was already pushing the limits of her schedule to stop any time soon. Scooping another golden pancake out the pan she quickly replaced it with another portion of the batter.

It was early in the morning, the sun having just risen up and the brunette was nearly off her planned schedule. It was nearing 7 o'clock just half past nine and she should be already consuming her breakfast, before going out for her jog. Flipping the last of the fluffy, cakes on the plate, she dumped the pan and utensils into the sink; vowing to wash them when she returned.

Stuffing a few pancakes into her mouth the brunette sped off to her room. The room was quaint and cozy with a single bed pushed off to the side and a sturdy desk opposite it. Pulling on a pair of sweats and a cotton tee, Mikan can hear shuffling of feet as her Grandpa stated his day.

"Morning Jii-Chan, there's pancakes on the table!" She called, shoving her feet into a worn pair of sneakers and the brunette was out the door.

It was a nice day out, the morning nice and cool. Taking deep breaths and of the crisp air she proceeded down the street, her shoes pounding against the hardtop. She always went on a run in the morning, as a singer it was important to have good stamina. Also, it didn't hurt that it was good for her health. She continued on like that for a full hour before heading back home, her calves burning. It just like how she liked it.

Slowing down her pace to a stroll, Mikan walked back home enjoying the morning. Throwing her head back she allowed the cool breeze to cool her heated body down. She loved her runs in morning. It was an important part of her day, after all what was a songstress without a good set of lungs? She ran every morning rain or shine.

Kicking hard at a stone in her path she sent it skittering to a stop a couple of feet away. About to send it off once more, the brunette raised her foot, when a strange person caught her eye up the street.

A stranger, tall and blond, was standing at the doorstep of her house. Mikan frowned to herself. The stranger did not seem to be around these parts judging by their attire; a long dark coat over bright, tight, engine red pants, their long hair swept back into a ponytail over the shoulder. People around here liked staying comfortable and simple.

_Who is visiting so early in the morning?_

Step after step, the brunette brought herself closer warily. She lived alone with Jii-chan and they rarely had any visitors. The stranger rang the doorbell and peered into the window next to the door, before they proceeded to rap on the door and rang the bell again.

_Impatient much?_

She was right behind the stranger now. Irritated she watched the blond before her, ring the doorbell once again.

"Can I help you?" She asked, keeping the annoyance out her tone. The blond jumped with a girlish yelp, whirling around with wide eyes at Mikan.

Giving the blond in front of her a quick once over, Mikan decided she didn't know them at all, she knew everyone in the small town. But the woman seemed harmless. Clearing her throat, she repeated her question once again, "Can I help you, miss?"

The woman gave a few slow blinks slowly comprehending her words. Then her face lit up, violet eyes sparkling, as she nodded excitedly. Then the woman paused, a frown etching a way on her face.

Mikan blinked confused at the display of emotion before her. _Did she not understand?_

"I said; can I help you, miss?" The brunette spoke, deliberately stretching her vowels and raising her voice an octave louder."I mean, you're standing in front of my house." The brunette waved her hand toward her home.

The stranger blinked, once and twice. "Oh! You're speaking to me!" the woman exclaimed, pointing a finger adorned with blue polish at herself.

Mikan nodded slowly. Perhaps her judgement of this person was wrong she thought. She watched the blond double over in laughter in confusion.

"Uh..._Miss_? Are you...all right?"

The woman stopped laughing, wiping away a tear she quickly straightening up and fixed her attire. "Sorry, I must have seemed_ just_ rude back then!" The blond smiled a laugh threatening to be released. The stranger flapped her hand at Mikan as if dismissing her own earlier outburst.

"I am _Mr. Anju_, but you can call me Narumi. I am looking for Mikan Yukihara of this house." He introduced pointing to himself. The brunette felt a flush creeping up on her face. How could she have mistaken a guy for a _girl_? She should be the one apologizing, not the man in front of her. Opening her mouth to do so, the brunette found herself beaten by Narumi.

"Oh, no need to apologize! I get that a lot." The man dismissed as if reading her mind. _Is he a Mentalist?_ "It is _such_ a crime to be born so beautiful!" Any good feeling she felt toward the blond instantly disappeared, as she watched the man rave on and on about his looks.

_How can anyone be such a narcissist?_

"So..." Mikan spoke, catching Narumi's attention and effectively cutting off his rant. "You were looking for me? Mikan Yukihara?"

Once again, the blond blinked, once and twice before giving an eager nod. "Oh yes! I was looking for you, Mikan Yukihara, to deliver this." Narumi produced a large and thick envelope from his coat pocket, presenting it to her.

Mikan gave a pause at the envelope. _How did he fit that in his pocket? _Reaching out hesitantly she accepted it.

"Well, I should reintroduce myself now." Narumi announced sticking his slender hand in front of her face, which Mikan accepted reluctantly. "I am Narumi Anju, a teacher and I'm here to personally deliver your acceptance letter to Alice Academy!"

Her Grandpa gave a sip of his tea, unperturbed by the stranger gracing their table with them. "Mikan, can you please refill?" He spoke in his deep gravely undertone, presenting her his ceramic tea-cup.

She stiffly did as he requested. Darting a glance at Narumi, who seemed right at home, Mikan puzzled over how her Grandfather remained so _calm_.

Her Grandfather, returning home from the corner store, had walked right into a scene where a blond stranger was suffocating his only granddaughter in a hug ranting on and on about something she didn't quite catch. Instead, Jii-chan had simply invited the Narumi into the house without any questions.

Her eyes darted over to the two. Her Grandfather was still calmly sipping his tea, which no doubt would need to be refilled in a second and Narumi who sat there _still_ beaming at the world. Then her eyes darted to the thick, creamy envelope sitting on the table.

An acceptance letter, to Alice Academy, was what Narumi had said. The brunette racked her brain for the said school. Did she apply for the Academy? She certainly couldn't remember any school called Alice Academy. All she could recall was that she applied to the _Songbird Institute of Gladeville_, _Nightstar Academy_, _Lemongrove Conservatory for Songstresses_, and finally _Petesburn,_ her backup plan. She couldn't remember hearing about Alice Academy, nor was the name among the many brochures and booklets back in her room. Besides, she thought, who sends a teacher to deliver an acceptance letter?

Finally Jii-chan spoke, "So, Narumi was it? What are you here for?"

"Yes, it's Narumi, Narumi Anju. Thank you for having me . I'm here to deliver your granddaughters acceptance letter to Alice Academy." The blond responded smoothly, taking a slow sip of his tea.

"Is that so?" Her Gramps gave a slow nod to himself, before turning to her. "Mikan, was this one of those fancy school you applied for?"

"No! I never even heard about it!" Mikan denied with a frown. "Which is strange, I had searched up every available songster school I could attend."

Narumi gave a chuckle. "I don't expect that you will find it then. Very few talk about it." Mikan and her Grandfather stared blankly at him, waiting for him to elaborate. Schools were always talked about, the future of the next generation depended on the excellence of mages produced. The better the reputation of the school the more frequent the name comes up in dinner discussions.

"Is this a school full of delinquents? I absolutely forbid my Granddaughter to attend any school as such!" asked Jii-chan. Mikan blinked in surprise. _Delinquents?_ Where did he get that idea? Once again her grandfather amazed her with his eccentric ways.

"No, no, Alice Academy is not a 'school full of delinquents', it is a prestigious school that have produced the best mages over the centuries." Soothed Narumi, as he smoothly offered a full teacup, newly refilled, to the elder. "Alice Academy is simply a very private school. You can't apply for it; one must be _selected_ to attend it."

_Selected? _Surely a school like that would have been gossiped about, private or not private, the brunette thought, although, she felt slightly flattered that she has been selected. "So..." the girl started, effectively catching the attention of the two men, "Where it is this school? How do you 'select' your students? What kind of programs do you offer? How many songster teachers do you have? What are their specialties?" Mikan leaned forward, eager to learn about this mysterious school.

Narumi shifted. "Well, the school is situated near the city. We select our students based on their potential and academics we've seen so far. All the information is in the booklets inside there." Narumi nodded to the unopened envelope sitting on the table before them.

Mikan frowned; he didn't answer all her questions. "Yes, but what kind of programs do you offer? How many songster teachers do you have and their specialties? Why haven't I at least heard of it?" She pushed on, her brown eyes narrowing as the teacher avoided her eyes. He was beginning to look uncomfortable.

"As I've said, everything you need to know is in the envelope." Now the blond was definitely being evasive and everyone knew it.

A thick silence descended over the room, as the inhabitants of the house scrutinizing the teacher with great suspicion. Mikan waited for a follow-up. Jii-chan glowered. Narumi sweated buckets.

Finally Narumi, tossed his hands in exasperation and exclaimed, "I swear, everything you need to know is in the envelope! I'm just here to clear up misunderstanding and answer your questions!"

The air was thick with tension now; the teacher was being glared at profoundly at. Azumi's disliked it when they weren't given an answer and that was a trait that Mikan inherited form her Mother. Finally, when the blond didn't seem to give in any time soon, Mikan tentatively reached for the envelope. In her hands the envelope was thick and heavy; her name was scrawled in a loopy cursive writing on the front with a bright red seal decorating the outside.

Carefully maneuvering her thumb underneath the wax, she watched as the seal crumbled away from the parchment. Turning the envelope over, she ungracefully dumped the contents out. Another letter fell out, along with a thick handbook, a flyer and several pamphlets.

Everyone's attention was now fixated on the items scattered across the table.

Grabbing the nearest pamphlet Mikan studied it. The front featured a great looming building, which she presumed was the school, with laughing students dressed in plaid skirts and dark blazers. Above them was the words '_Alice Academy. A Place of Diversity'_. Flipping it open the brunette skimmed the text and froze. Because on third pane of the pamphlet was another picture of students, but this time displaying their abilities.

She stared at the photo. An alchemist, two witches, and a Mentalist were shown. They were all wearing the same uniform with the Academy emblem, a golden 'A' surrounded by a circle made of tiny stars, embroidered proudly on their breasts. Mikan's mind spun, why were there other mages? Different magic types were always separated since grade school. It was unheard of to mix them together in higher grades. _Are they separated? _Stiffly her eyes darted to the next pane, only to be disappointed, a photo showed all five types of mages in a single classroom setting.

"Mikan? What's wrong, you look pale." Her grandfather called to her, whilst shooting a suspicious glance at the third person in the room. Narumi sat there quietly, watching her expression.

Finally tearing her eyes away from the piece of paper Mikan looked up, mind still reeling, she managed to breathe out; "It...It's a mixed school. All mages are mixed together."

Jii-chan froze. "Are you sure? Maybe they are separated."

"They're not separated." confirmed Narumi. "Alice Academy is a school for all kinds of mages, we don't separate them."

"But it's illegal!" exclaimed Mikan, dropping the pamphlet on the table as if it was on fire.

"It's not illegal." Narumi calmly denied. "It's just that...no one does it. Alice Academy is one of the few schools."

"What about the incident thirty years ago? _Huh_? Mixed magic! Mages carrying unstable magic! That they weren't born into! Killed two people!" ranted Jii-chan his fist banging against the table top.

"Yes, we are aware of that." Narumi answered, his blue eyes fixated right on Jii-chan's brown ones.

"Then why!? Mages are going to mix their magic with other magic!" Her grandfather was turning red by now as he increased his volume.

"We are also aware. In fact it is a program we offer, mixing magic" Narumi rebutted. Shocked silence descended across the room. But, Narumi continued on undeterred. "At Alice Academy we believe equality of all magic. We also believe that magic shouldn't be limited by birth. That is the old way of thinking. Now times have changed and studies have shown that we could learn other types. What happened thirty years ago was a wake-up call. _Why_ couldn't we learn other magic?"

Narumi gave a pause in his speech, taking in his two companion's reaction. Mikan's mouth felt dry her own brown orbs assessing the teacher's face, it was a mask of dead seriousness. Who hadn't wondered? Every child in their lifetime had always once or twice wondered what it felt like to have another type. But, it was how things worked. You mingle with all types till you move out of grade school. From then on mages barely associated with other types. This continued till you graduated and even then the rift still existed. Mages looked down upon others and would continue to majorly mingle with their type.

"What type we are born into are what we have high aptitudes for, genetics play a large role. But, that doesn't mean we don't have aptitudes for others. They are just weaker. So with careful coaching and right amount of concentration we can learn other magic. I'm not talking about total control of another type, but simple ones. Like a simple spell to remove a small stain or levitating an item by a centimeter with your mind. It takes more and time and work then your original magic but it can be done. Also, the new magic will be _stable_. What happened thirty years ago was mages not fully understanding of the half-baked magic they learned. They tried hard, big magic not knowing what they were doing" Narumi stopped once more, this time to take a sip of tea.

"Students don't have to learn another magic if they don't want to. Not all can anyway; some have very low aptitudes for other magic. Students could attend Alice Academy like a normal student, but just mixed with different mages. That's another thing that Alice Academy believes in; diversity in magic and mages. People these days always stick with their own type and barely have any regard for other types. This is a product of separating the types in school, society had divided them and they'll continue being divided it's the only way we know. No types are better than the other; we are all human just different in the magic we use. So in Alice Academy we encourage in mingling with different mages. Of course we still have separate classes for magic types. Aside from that everything is mixed." Finishing his long speech, Narumi folded his arms on top on the table and leaned forward.

"This is an idea that is catching on in the city. We are trying to create a new generation that'll completely throw the old system away. So, are you interested in attending Alice Academy Mikan-chan?" The blond asked, directing it to Mikan.

* * *

Thanks for reading :) Please Review

Title and summery may be subjected to change in the future

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice at all.


End file.
